Which scandals does Obama think are “phony”?

posted at 5:21 pm on July 25, 2013 by Allahpundit

James Taranto, Noah Rothman, Ace, and, as you’ll see, Steve Hayes: Lots of righties are asking this question after O tossed it into his snooze of a speech. And it’s not just O. Remember, Carney sneered about pretend scandals yesterday too in his skirmish with Scarborough on “Morning Joe.” This is, it seems, an official White House talking point, adopted by The One himself. Somehow, after five years and several thousand “pivots” to stupid and/or dangerous left-wing agenda wishlist items, the White House has decided that all it really wants to talk about is the economy and it’s damned tired of being distracted from doing so, don’tcha know.

So, which scandals — plural — are phony? Benghazi is, certainly. The left’s been insisting since before Chris Stevens was laid to rest that there’s zero sign of government malfeasance here, despite the fact that State ignored numerous warnings that the consulate was operating in one of the most dangerous places on earth with only a skeleton security crew to protect it. The IRS scandal’s also phony, despite the fact that Carney himself called it “outrageous” (as Taranto notes), because even though targeting conservative groups was improper, it was mostly career government employees who did it and so that makes it kinda sorta non-scandalous. The “harvesting journalists’ phone records to hunt for leakers” scandal is phony because there are national security interests at stake and Holder tried to be as non-invasive as possible and everyone at the DOJ is really conscientious blah blah.

That’s what makes them individually phony. What makes them collectively phony, and the real reason the White House is so dismissive about all this, is that none of them have been directly tied to Obama himself. That’s the sine qua non of a “scandal” for O and his lackeys and it’s perfectly in keeping with the cult of personality that got him elected in 2008. If The One’s hands are clean then how much dirt can there really be? What the people who staff his government do is on them. The sole exception to this is the NSA revelations because (a) there’s no way for O to feign ignorance on that and (b) the general public, including liberals and Democrats, has plenty of skin in the game when it comes to domestic surveillance. That’s why Obama and Carney keep calling for a “national conversation” on the NSA (while doing everything they can to prevent it) rather than waving anxieties away as “phony” trumped-up Republican nonsense. Anything that can be linked to The One is a “legitimate concern.” Anything that can’t? Meh. Move on, wingnuts.

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Plural. Note the plurality of it. Not one or maybe two, but a host of them. What, 6, 7, 8 if we were really getting down to brass tacks??

What the real scandal is is a lack of functional press. F&F should have been enough to take this president down and then add in that chap Ben Ghazi, etc. Not even what happened with Rosen/AP is enough to move the “press” into doing their jobs.

How about Issa’s phony investigations? Hearings that go nowhere. No substantive follow up. No recall of key witnesses who improperly took the Fifth. All done for show to the mainstream Republicans who simply want to be members of a party sharing power and patronage regardless of what the legislation really means to the country.

If the scandals are so phony, why are Obama and his Administration doing their utmost to stonewall investigations?

If those who have nothing to hide shouldn’t be worried about deep background checks for guns, as gun-grabbers say, then Obama and his people should be totally forthcoming. They have nothing to hide from ‘phony scandals’, right?

That’s the sine qua non of a “scandal” for O and his lackeys and it’s perfectly in keeping with the cult of personality that got him elected in 2008. If The One’s hands are clean then how much dirt can there really be?

The Dear Liar never seems to want to come clean on his actions in connection to these scandals.

And in most cases, shazzam! He doesn’t hear about until his media lackeys clue him in oddly enough.

It’s phony once it gets anywhere near the White House. F&F didn’t become phony until Eric Holder was linked and Obama had to improperly invoke executive privilege in order to cover that up. Benghazi became phony once the whistleblowers came forward. At that point Hillary’s(and by extension the entire Democrat Party’s) future was jeopardized, so the scandal had to be rendered illegitimate. And of course the IRS targeting of conservatives was a serious matter….until an Obama appointee was linked to it. Then suddenly it became phony and a distraction. And BTW, progressive groups that no one can name were supposedly targeted as well. Trust me, Elijah Cummings said so.

So, for purposes of discussion, let’s assume for now that none of these scandals — Benghazi, IRS targeting Tea Party groups, Fast & Furious, NSA doing domestic spying, tapping journalists’ phones, the DoJ declining to prosecute illegal use of tax records — were directed from the White House. However, they are all occurring in the Executive Branch, and Obama is the Chief Executive, so one question that can’t be placed on anybody else’s desk is: What is Obama doing to stop them? Who has he fired? What cabinet member or political appointee has he asked to resign? What executive orders has he issued to prevent these from happening again?

Obama has done none of these things. In fact he has thrown the cloak of national security and executive privilege over anyone questioned about them. Anyone in the executive branch can safely assume that the White House approves these activities. I would find that conclusion hard to argue with. And I find the White House’s protestations of ignorance and lack of culpability laughable.

Good afternoon, everybody. I just finished speaking with Secretary Lew and senior officials at the Treasury Department to discuss the investigation into IRS personnel who improperly screened conservative groups applying for tax-exempt status. And I look forward to taking some questions at tomorrow’s press conference, but today, I wanted to make sure to get out to all of you some information about what we’re doing about this, and where we go from here.

I’ve reviewed the Treasury Department watchdog’s report, and the misconduct that it uncovered is inexcusable. It’s inexcusable, and Americans are right to be angry about it, and I am angry about it. I will not tolerate this kind of behavior in any agency, but especially in the IRS, given the power that it has and the reach that it has into all of our lives. And as I said earlier, it should not matter what political stripe you’re from — the fact of the matter is, is that the IRS has to operate with absolute integrity. The government generally has to conduct itself in a way that is true to the public trust. That’s especially true for the IRS.

So here’s what we’re going to do.

First, we’re going to hold the responsible parties accountable. Yesterday, I directed Secretary Lew to follow up on the IG audit to see how this happened and who is responsible, and to make sure that we understand all the facts. Today, Secretary Lew took the first step by requesting and accepting the resignation of the acting commissioner of the IRS, because given the controversy surrounding this audit, it’s important to institute new leadership that can help restore confidence going forward.

Second, we’re going to put in place new safeguards to make sure this kind of behavior cannot happen again. And I’ve directed Secretary Lew to ensure the IRS begins implementing the IG’s recommendations right away.

Third, we will work with Congress as it performs its oversight role. And our administration has to make sure that we are working hand in hand with Congress to get this thing fixed. Congress, Democrats and Republicans, owe it to the American people to treat that authority with the responsibility it deserves and in a way that doesn’t smack of politics or partisan agendas. Because I think one thing that you’ve seen is, across the board, everybody believes what happened in — as reported in the IG report is an outrage. The good news is it’s fixable, and it’s in everyone’s best interest to work together to fix it.

I’ll do everything in my power to make sure nothing like this happens again by holding the responsible parties accountable, by putting in place new checks and new safeguards, and going forward, by making sure that the law is applied as it should be — in a fair and impartial way. And we’re going to have to make sure that the laws are clear so that we can have confidence that they are enforced in a fair and impartial way, and that there’s not too much ambiguity surrounding these laws.

So that’s what I expect. That’s what the American people deserve. And that’s what we’re going to do.

Thank you very much.

- President Barack Obama, 15 May 2013

New Hotness: It’s a phony scandal.

Old & Busted:

With respect to Benghazi, we’ve now seen this argument that’s been made by some folks primarily up on Capitol Hill for months now. And I’ve just got to say — here’s what we know. Americans died in Benghazi. What we also know is clearly they were not in a position where they were adequately protected. The day after it happened, I acknowledged that this was an act of terrorism. And what I pledged to the American people was that we would find out what happened, we would make sure that it did not happen again, and we would make sure that we held accountable those who had perpetrated this terrible crime.

For starters, President Obama, I’d like to know exactly what you were doing the night four of our Patriots were slaughtered in Benghazi? Did you really go to bed during an eight hour siege on our consulate? Did you personally order ANYONE to stand down? Finally, why did you stand before the U.N., (A FU#*ING WEEK LATER), and tell the world the attack was the result of an out of control demonstration, when you knew perfectly well it was a terrorist attack? What prevented YOU, Mr. President, from being a leader of the free world that night???

Oh, wait. This is a phony scandal, so ignore these silly questions, you POS.

All this Fast and Furious, IRS, Solyndra, Benghazi, NSA, selling visas, pedophile ambassador nonsense, all of it, is nothing but a vile racist attempt by a vile racist fundamentalist right-wing to destroy the good name of the greatest President ever, the conservatives will stop at nothing until all people of color are exterminated in gulags, and their children sold into slavery, because the Right is nothing but a bunch of super uber-right wing Nazis.

And you can take that to the bank.

[The things a citizen must do these days to make sure the NSA keeps them on the good little boy list. I feel ill just having written that tripe. How do the Lefties do it with such ease? Do they actually believe this crap? ]

The problem with the investigations in to the scandals is they go no where. Issa has hearings and that is the end of it.
So you have to wonder who got to Issa….
The White House controlled NSA comes in handy for digging up dirt on your political enemies…

You see “nutty b.s.”. I see people horrified and baffled. Four dead embassy staff. Two dead border agents. Millions upon millions who are either unemployed, underemployed, on food stamps, welfare or have given up. I see a very power government agency using it’s power to shape governments. Spying. As useless as the “press” is here, the fact that the government is in control of them is chilling. I won’t even talk about what is going on overseas.

But you continue to laugh. Glad you find it all amusing when horrified people try to make sense of it.

Sadly the low info vo hos will believe it because that guys skin tone is similar to their own. That guy is lying to them. Black folks are like the kids in the Pied Piper. They will dance to Obamas tune as he leads them to their doom. And they will be smiling all the way. Fools.

I wonder which Scandals BPA Brian Terry’s parents, those who were targeted by the IRS, the family members of Ambassador Stevens and the others who were betrayed/abandoned/killed in Benghazi, and the media & their family members who were illegally spied on feel Obama considers ‘Phony’?!